


A Trail of Flowers

by FloingMachines



Category: Florence + the Machine
Genre: F/F, I'm taking prompts again!!!, Of all varieties!!!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-17
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-08 02:05:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14684168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FloingMachines/pseuds/FloingMachines
Summary: Florabella prompts, mostly one shots.You're suggesting prompts and I'm writing them.I'll take pretty much anything, you can comment them below or you can message me on at machinerisms.tumblr.com





	1. Working (NSFW)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back!!! Good to be writing again, too.  
> NSFW chapters will be marked as such.

                Working, she’s working or rather she’s sitting at one of the many desks in the flat and she’s writing or she’s reading or she’s doing both at the same time. Or occasionally she gets distracted and wanders around the house looking for something else to bring back to the desk so that she can get what she needs to get done accomplished. It’s easier said than done, it’s easier to procrastinate than to do the required work, but it’s harder to do the work passed the deadline so Isa accepts that Florence will be at the goddamn desk all day.

                Isa hates it. She hates that she wakes up alone in bed and grabs the first shirt she sees off the floor and puts it on and comes down and Florence is working so she makes tea and then some coffee and then heads outside to run errands and comes back and the flat is still quiet. She knows that if she interrupts any of this tomorrow will be the same, an endless drawn out time of required work so she bides her time and checks her email and goes outside again.

                It’s dreary as it always seems to be in London and as she drives around she hopes it doesn’t rain because she left the umbrella in the house. She hopes that maybe Florence will be done whatever she needs to be done by the time she gets back because she misses her girlfriend and…

                She drums her fingers against the steering wheel impatiently. Patience isn’t her strong suit and she wishes that maybe she was better at it, but she’s not so she settles for making anxious runs to hardware stores to buy a toolkit so she can tighten the washer under the sink in the kitchen so it stops leaking.

                It’s good to be home, she’ll admit that much. It’s good to drive around familiar streets and to see people that she’s seen for most of her life. She can even consider it a grace when rain begins to fall from the sky and splatter across the windshield just like she predicted it would. Thunder rumbles across the sky, it’s quiet and distant and she wants it to stay that way.

                She lets herself into the flat again with the bags and glances over to see that Florence is still working so she walks into the kitchen and sets the bags down and crawls under the sink. It’s the kind of domesticity that feels unshakably familiar as she hears the scratching of the pencils and pens from the other room as she finds the rusted washer on the pipes and replaces it like it was nothing.

                The thunder has subsided and instead rain makes small pitter-patter sounds against the windows and doors and Isa finds herself checking every window to make sure it’s tied down and she checks the miscellaneous doors that find themselves open to let in fresh air. There’s been more than one occasion where rain has rolled in across London and right into their flat.

                _Their flat_. It’s jarring to think about and nice all the same because they’ve spent too long apart. She feels like they should’ve lived together for a long time, but better late than never she decides. It’s nice waking up next to Florence most mornings, the uncertainty of so long erased. It’s nice being under the same roof, able to walk over to her and kiss her whenever she wants.

                The downtime is nice.

                This is nice.

                Florence still doing work is less nice and now her impatience is eating at her. _She_ has unfinished business from last night on top of her incessant boredom so she wanders out of the kitchen and into the room with the desk where Florence is working. Her eyebrows are drawn towards the space between her eyes as she writes something illegible down on one piece of paper and then writes it again in a smaller notebook.

                She isn’t sure what the other woman is doing, but it’s endearing to see her work on something with focus and determination and a fire in her eyes. Her red hair is tucked over one shoulder as she writes and Isa finds herself quietly padding up behind her girlfriend and wrapping her arms around her. She gently presses a kiss to the exposed side of her neck.

                “Are you almost done?”

                “Why, are you bored?”

                “…Maybe.”

                “It’s almost done, I swear it shouldn’t be that much longer.”

                “Should I leave you alone in the meantime?”

                “I promise it won’t be long.”

                Isa glanced over her shoulder at the mess of papers on the desk, trying to decipher some of the scrawl. It was mostly written in pencil, although some of it was highlighted again in pen, but even to her trained eye she could’ve been looking at scribbles and she wouldn’t have known the difference. There are two other books that are half opened, one facing up and one facing down on top of some of the papers and it strikes her that she’s not sure what Florence has been doing for the majority of the day.

                “What have you been doing for all this time?” She was curling a string of orange hair around her finger as she spoke, resting her arm on one of the other woman’s shoulders.

                “I’ve been writing down some thoughts and collecting them for later.” She paused. “You never know when it’ll be useful.”

                “What have you been thinking about?”

                “Hm…” She trailed off, unable to pin down a single coherent thought.

                “Promise it’ll be fast?” Isa asked, cutting off the search taking place in her girlfriend’s mind.

                “I do.”

                “Okay.” Isa pressed a quick kiss to her cheek. “I love you.”

                “Love you too.”

                Isa wandered away and into the garden in the back, trying to keep her boredom in check. Her mind was wandering too now that she didn’t have anywhere to be or anything pressing to do. The rain had slowed to a drizzle and outside smelled like leaves ready to open up to a sky of sunshine, although she knew how unlikely that was in London.

                They went out last night, they hadn’t gone out in a while. They hadn’t come home late, but they had come home when the sky was dark and there weren’t many people around and they had stumbled into the flat slightly intoxicated.

                Isa looked down at herself, she was wearing one of Florence’s shirts and she was surprised that she hadn’t noticed from the way it draped over her smaller frame. She woke up without any clothes on and she had assumed Florence had as well and it occurred to her that they had been together for so long that she didn’t question it anymore she just grabbed the nearest article of clothing and put it on.

                This new normal felt nice.

                “Flo,” She called back into the flat but there was no answer. “Are you done yet?”

                There was no answer and she found herself walking into the flat, she was going to drag her girlfriend away from her work if it killed her.

                She was lost in thought, that much was apparent. Her back was rigid and her head turned to the side, the eye that Isa could see was closed. Her breathing was even, but aside from the gentle rise and fall of her body she was perfectly still.

                “Florence.” She leaned in the doorway, but there was no movement from the redhead. “ _Florence_.”

                Her eyes snapped open and she look around, momentarily confused and then sighed. “Almost there.”

                “What’s wrong?”

                She ran her hands through her hair, pushing her bangs back onto the top of her head. “I can’t focus, I think I need a distraction or something. I’ve been sitting here for too long, I don’t know…” She trailed off. “It’s like a traffic jam of thoughts.”

                Isa walked over to her and set her hands lightly on her shoulders again. “I could help you.” She whispered.

                “What did you have in mind?” There was a hint of teasing at the end of her voice.

                “I could help you relax like I did last night.” She drummed her fingers against her shoulders and Florence’s breathing audibly hitched. “Would that help?”

                “Maybe.”

                “Worth a shot?”

                “ _Yes._ ”

                “Close your eyes.”

                There was a gap between the chair and the desk and she slipped between it, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. If she was being honest with herself this was the main reason why she was so irritated to wake up alone this morning, she didn’t like leaving loose ends and she guessed that this was another one to tie up.

                “Why are you wearing _jeans_?”

                “Fuck, Isa, I don’t know. I really don’t.”

                “Are these even your jeans?” She has the button undone, but the skinny jeans are caught on her thighs. “Are these mine?”

                “Probably.”

                “How did you even get these on? They’re way too small for you.”

                “I don’t know, do you need help getting them off?”

                “No, keep your eyes closed.” The jeans wouldn’t budge. “Fine. Get these fucking things off.”

                “I keep forgetting why I never wear jeans,” Florence muses as she stands up and Isa is suddenly aware of her full height as she is on her knees. She strips off the jeans like they’re made of duct tape and they are haphazardly flung into an already cluttered room. “I’m starting to remember.”

                “Sit down.” She sits down and their eyes meet. “Close your eyes again.”

                “Better without the jeans?”

                “Never wear jeans again.”

                “I can handle that.”

                She’s kissing up the inside of her thighs and Florence’s breathing hitches again. “What were you trying to write about again?” She asks absently.

                “Doesn’t matter.” Her voice is hoarse. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” Her sentence is punctuated by a sharp inhale as Isa nips at the exposed area where her hipbone juts out.

                “I didn’t plan on stopping.” She drags her underwear down her long legs and Florence gasps.

                “ _Fuck_ , don’t.”

                She’s got her right leg hooked over her shoulder and it’s easy to lose herself in the sounds Florence is making, a slew of incoherent sounds mixed in with her name. One hand is tangled in her hair, holding her in place, and the other is gripping the side of the chair hard enough that her knuckles are turning white.

                She’s vaguely aware of the desk over her head and the way her thighs are shaking around her head as she pins the taller woman’s hips down with the heel of her hand and if she had been more aware maybe she wouldn’t have been taken by surprise when she came and could feel her pulse underneath her fingertips.

                She stands up, careful not to hit her head on the desk and Florence’s eyes are still closed for a moment and then they open. She doesn’t say anything in the first moment when their eyes meet, the pupils of the other woman’s green eyes still blown out.

                “Sufficiently distracted?” Isa asks with a smile.

                “Yes.” Her answer is punctuated with a small laugh.

                “Think you can finish your work now?”

                “Hell no. Upstairs _now_.”


	2. There's one bed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: "The ever so classic: and there was only one bed"  
> Requested by anonymous on my Tumblr

                She had been fighting the nagging thoughts at the back of her mind for months now. They were a nuisance at best and a complete distraction at work. They were a complete distraction when she was trying to work, when she was playing piano, when she was doing anything of any relative importance. It was a nuisance when she shared a coy glance with Florence in the middle of an irritatingly long corporate meeting and it was a huge god damn problem when that party happened.

                Why was she there? Isa couldn’t remember, Florence had invited her and how could she say no? She couldn’t, so she went, she got drunk as she tried to forget the burning crush she had on her friend, and then they kissed. And then it became a god damn problem because she could barely look her best friend in the eyes even though she could barely remember what happened.

                She hated that the memory replayed in her mind in the fleeting moments before she went to sleep, she hated that she thought about kissing her again. What Isa really wanted right now what she _really_ wanted was to forget. She wanted her mind erased and she wanted to be shot back in time and she wanted everything to stop.

                She wanted everything to go back to normal, except normal wasn’t an option anymore.

                They were staying in a hotel in some city and she had pretended to sleep for the entire bus ride there. She was pretending because she didn’t really want to talk to one and the problem was being exacerbated by the fact that she was sharing a hotel room with Florence, her best friend who she had a crush on.

                God damn the universe.

                She pretended to wake up once the bus halted and the sky was dark and she blinked as she stepped out of the bus and into the harsh fluorescent lights. Check-in was an awkward fumbling of paperwork and incorrect chatter (did any of them know how hotels worked? No.) and they awkward and tired bunch was handed keycards.

                “Did you sleep on the bus?” She’s alone in the elevator with Florence. She’s too tired to climb the stairs, too out of it.

                “I guess.” She shrugged. “Not well.”

                Florence frowned. “What’s wrong?”

                “I just have a lot on my mind.” _If only you knew_.

                “We don’t have anywhere to be early tomorrow we can sleep in.” The redhead smiled and Isa couldn’t stop the smile it coaxed out of her too.

                “That sounds like a good idea.” Isa continued to smile. “I think I could use a morning where I don’t have to be anywhere.”

                “We can stay in bed and rent a movie.”

                “God, that sounds perfect.” Isa closed her eyes and mused on the thought. She really needed a distraction.

                The elevator dinged and Isa couldn’t bother to remember what floor the room was on. She wanted to just crawl under some clean sheets and sleep until her brain was back in functioning order. Hell, she wouldn’t even take off her eyeliner she’d let it bleed onto the white sheets as she slept, a reminder that she was there and a person with a brain.

                The room key was shoved in her back pocket and she fumbled for it when they reached the door (it was numbered with a number that she couldn’t be bothered to remember. Florence would remind her or maybe she could just look at the keycard packet…) after a couple awkward seconds Florence opened the door with hers and they stepped in.

                It was odd, Isa’s first reaction to stepping in to an unfamiliar room was to turn on the lights when Florence would forget to turn them on for hours if it wasn’t required. Florence walked right into the room, setting her bag on the bed and Isa fumbled with the light switch. She awkwardly smacked the wall and random lights and fans sprung to life with each strike.

                “Iz?”

                “Hm?” Her mind was elsewhere. She wanted to sleep, she wanted to turn her brain off. Being awake was like torture.

                “There’s only one bed.”

                “Oh.”

                Her mind was both completely blank and racing at the same time. God, she didn’t want this right now. She really just wanted to be alone in a bed, to wrap herself up and to stop thinking. It wasn’t like they hadn’t done this before it was just never under these circumstances never with her mind frantic with sleep deprivation and a burning crush.

                “We can just share like we always have.”

                “Yeah.”

                Her mind was completely numb.

                How was she going to sleep like this?

                She probably wasn’t.

                Isa set her bag down on the floor next to the bed and dug through the bag looking for her pajamas. She changed in the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face, trying to slow her heartrate. She was blowing this completely out of proportion. It was a _crush_ , it was just a crush and…

                The issue was it wasn’t. She’d known for a long time and had done everything to avoid it, everything to avoid having to look herself in the mirror and admit that she was falling in love with her best friend.

                The fluorescent bathroom lights washed out her face as black eyeliner dripped down her cheeks and she steadied her shaking hands on the counter. Her knuckles turned white from the force of holding down as she took deep breaths, steadying her lungs. It was stupid to think anything else was happening and her she was, looking at her pathetic reflection and admitting what she had known for years now.

                She was in love with Florence.

                And the universe just seemed to be making it worse.

                There was nothing more than she wanted than to forget this was happening and to be friends, but her laugh sent a shudder down her spine and her smile could light up her entire world. Her mind buzzed as she tried to remember the kiss at the party in more clarity, she was grasping at straws as she tried to hold herself together.

                “Isa?” The voice floated through the room. “Are you okay?”

                “Yeah.” She breathed, her voice coming out as shallow as her breathing. She wet one of the hand towels and began to wipe away her makeup. “I’ll be right there.”

                And she was. They laid in bed side by side, Isa’s hands crossed over her stomach as she stared at the dark ceiling. Florence mumbled something that sounded vaguely like ‘good night’ to her and she mumbled something in reply. The redhead fell asleep easily next to her, a fac that Isa could recall even from the days of their early friendship.

                Eventually Isa drifted off too and as her consciousness slipped away from her exhausted brain, she prayed that her sleep would be deep and dreamless.

                It was dreamless, but it wasn’t deep because she woke up when the clock read 3:00 AM in glaring green letters and Florence had one arm slung over her body and her face pressed into where her shoulder met her neck.

                She wanted to stay like this, comfortable and warm, but something in her brain spooked. Careful not to wake the sleeping redhead, she detangled herself from her arms and stood up in the room. Her chest was heaving with every breath and she made her way towards the one chair in the room. She sat down and closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep sitting up again. She would deal.

                “Isa?” She was trying to drift off again when she opened her eyes to her name. “Why’d you get up?”

                Florence’s voice is slurred and heavy with sleep and Isa searches for the right words. “Go back to sleep, I’ve just had problems sleeping lately.”

                Florence sat up, her orange hair ruffled and her eyes still adjusting in the dark. “Come back?”

                “Yeah I’ll be right there.” Isa sighed, unable to avoid her gaze.

                “What’s wrong?”

                “Nothing.” Isa stood up and made her way back over, sitting on the edge of the bed.

                She knew if she got under the blankets, she would never get out of them again.

                “Something’s wrong, I always know with you.” Florence pulled the blankets up around Isa’s legs and the blonde couldn’t help but smile at the action.

                “I swear it’s nothing, just go back to sleep.”

                “Not until you tell me what’s been bothering you.”

                Florence pulled her down until she was lying on the bed again and Isa turned to look at her. How could she even begin to explain this? She couldn’t lie to her, she didn’t want to lie to her, but she was certain this was going to be a mistake. What a Catch-22.

                “I…” The words were stuck in her throat. “Do you remember the last party we went to?”  
                “I nearly had to drag you there.” Florence smiled.

                “And…” The words simply were fighting her brain. “I think we kissed.”

                Florence cocked her head to the side before she nodded. “Yeah.”

                “God, I don’t even know what I’m trying to say, I really don’t and I’m sorry and I know you’ll see through me if I try to lie to you because I can’t stop thinking about it and this is going to come out all wrong…”

                “Isa, breathe.”

                “Okay.” Her inhales were shaking as she looked into Florence’s eyes.

                She could get lost staring into them, the sheer complexity of green eyes. They were worlds of their own and how she wished she could escape to them if only to avoid admitting how she really felt.

                “I love you. And I think I have for a long time.”

                The silence that hung between them was heavy and long and she could hear the blood rushing through her ears. She couldn’t meet Florence’s eyes, she couldn’t bear the weight of the truth. She knew she couldn’t.

                “Isa.” Her voice was soft and she found herself unable to respond. “I know.”

                “I…” She went to apologize, but she stopped short. “What?”

                “I know. I’ve been waiting for you to say something.”

                “What?” She looked up now, still unable to process it.

                “I…I think we’ve both known for a long time.”

                “Yeah.” Words were heavy on her tongue.

                Her eyes met Florence’s and for the first time in a long time her heart felt lighter. The truth felt like less of a burden and she allowed herself to take a deep breath and relax if only for a moment.

                She isn’t quite sure who moved first but the gap is closed between them, their lips pressed together, hushed by the darkness accompanied by a witching hour. Florence was kissing her and she was kissing her back and it occurred to her that maybe this was all she ever wanted in the first place.

                Her arm was hooked around her neck as she pulled herself deeper into the kiss, allowing herself to get lost in it. She had always been afraid to admit this was what she wanted, but here it was. It was better sober.

                She woke up with Florence behind her, arms wrapped around her, and her face pressed into her neck where it met her shoulders.


	3. Camping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Florence and Isa go camping  
> Requested by 6765  
> Or:  
> The feeling I get when I see you smile

Water has a certain elegance to it, especially in the early mornings when it sits perfectly still on the lake. It looks that way when Isa wakes up without Florence beside her in a tent in a national park somewhere in Canada. She pulls on a discarded sweatshirt and wanders outside the tent, her bare feet scratched against the pine needles.

                The fire is now a black scorch in the ground surrounded by rocks where the fire once roared but was stamped out late last night as the smoke reached its curling fingers up towards the stars. She can still smell the smoke in the air as she passes through and skims her fingers over a folding chair and tries to glance around the immediate woods.

                The lake is to the left and its surface sits still like freshly blown glass and the sun rises over the hills and sends a burning reflection across the surface. She spots Florence near the shore, sitting on a large rock with her legs crossed and the idle morning winds blowing her hair. Maybe it’s true that for logistical purposes they didn’t need to stop here for 2 days, but she wished that she could stay in the moment forever and stay content and warm on the inside forever.

                There was something inspiringly peaceful about the notion.

                She walked over to meet the redhead who was wearing a loose short sleeved shirt and pants, her feet crunching across leaves and stones and the gravel on the shores of the lake. She wants to breathe in with the air and the water as light begins to spill over their campsite, but she knows she’s disturbing the order of things with the noise she makes with every disturbed stone.

                She climbs up next to Florence and lets her legs hang over the edge, her feet dangling well above the water. She leans back on her palms and looks at her girlfriend and she can’t help the smile that comes over her face. It’s easy to watch someone else drift off into a peaceful state and become absorbed with their energy and begin to reach it yourself. Slowly she lets her left-hand crawl over towards Florence’s right and she laces their fingers together.

                Content, relaxed, she feels better right now than she has in a long time. It was a good idea to get away if only for a few days.

                “You didn’t have to get up.” Florence murmurs, her eyes are still closed and she wishes that she would open them so the light could hit her vibrant green eyes. Isa brushes the stray hair from her bangs away anyways as habit.

                “It’s hard to sleep when you’re not there.” She rests her forehead on Florence’s shoulder. It’s true. It’s hard to fall asleep without her presence anymore and to stay asleep without the warmth of another body next to her.

                “Are you saying I should stay in bed with you all day?” She doesn’t need to look at her girlfriend to know that she’s smiling.

                “That’s not exactly what I’m saying,” She looks up and their eyes meet. “But I wouldn’t be opposed.”

                She was right, Florence was smiling. She closed the gap between their lips, stretching upwards to traverse the distance between them. She couldn’t help the smile that grew on her face when Florence’s fingers tightened around her hand and she broke the kiss, punctuated with laughter.

                “What do you want to do with our whole day here?” Florence asks and she shifts herself so that Isa can lean into her side and wrap her arms around her much taller girlfriend.

                “We could walk through the woods,” Isa suggested. “Go in the lake, walk along the lake too, we didn’t bring a boat though so that’s a shame. I could show you how to light a proper fire with matches. Hell, we could sit here the whole day and nobody would be witness but the birds.”

                “There’s something calming about being here.” Florence remarked. “Something about the lack of obligations.”

                “Something like that.” Isa idly picked up a smooth oval stone in her hands and with the flick of her wrist the stone took advantage of the natural surface tension of water and skipped three times before sinking back underwater where it came from.

                They decided to get dressed in proper clothes first, both of them in simple jeans and old shirts that could afford to survive the outdoors. The lake seemed to go on forever, widening and narrowing in certain areas and the pair walked along the rocky shoreline hand in hand sometimes in silence and sometimes in conversation.

                There is sanctity in absolute seclusion with only the birds and the other spirits surrounding to testify to your actions. It had been a very long time since they had been absolutely alone with each other with no fear of someone walking in or without the incessant background noises of regular life.

                _Florence looks like she belongs here_ , Isa’s mind wanders as she looks at Florence who is glancing at her surroundings. She can feel the redhead’s pounding heartbeat in her fingertips and she looks up at her girlfriend.

                “I love you.” She can’t stop the words from leaving her lips and although she had avoided saying them out of fear, she had meant them for a long time now. She knew in her heart that she had always meant them.

                Florence looks at her as though snapped out of a trance and Isa wants to apologize but stops herself as a silly grin crosses Florence’s face and her cheeks flush pink. “I love you too.”

                She means it. They both mean it. The world seemed to align here, sheltering them from the rest of the world. They had reached the end of the lake and turned back and there was a happiness blossoming in Isa’s chest that she hadn’t felt in a long time. This place was magical and she was convinced that she never wanted to leave.

                They explored the lake and the sun began to set once they had returned and they lit the fire, heating up some of the canned food they brought and at every possible moment Isa told her that she loved her because she did and because she wanted to hear Florence say it back. There was no one else to hear it but her.

                The fire was dying out and the sky was filled with innumerable stars that blinked and Isa sat in Florence’s lap, her legs drawn across left to right and her arms wrapped around her girlfriend’s neck as she kissed her. _This_ was perfect, fuck everything else.

                She wouldn’t complain if she were to get lost in this very moment and the feeling of kissing Florence because she didn’t want to rejoin the land of the living. She wanted to stay here.

                “I love you.” She whispered in between kisses, letting the natural silence of the night hush them.

                “I love you too.”


	4. Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Florence and Isa take a road trip  
> From: 6765
> 
> BTW, I am still taking prompts. I'm still accepting NSFW prompts, but some fluffier ones would be appreciated (or AUs!)

 “It’s very American.” It’s just a comment as Florence runs her hand over the side of the pick-up truck. It’s taller than she is and in the back of her mind she’s wondering how the hell Isa gets herself into the truck. She’s also wondering where the hell she got it, it’s used and it has a beat-up charm to it with every scuff mark on the red paint.

                “A friend was all too happy to unload it.” Isa climbs into the back bed and peeks over the side, down at Florence. “Want to drive up the coast?”

                She’s smiling and her blue eyes are bright and Florence wants to hesitate. She wants to ask where they’re going and why and how far up the coast Isa was planning to drive. She wants to question the inspection dates on the truck and if Isa renewed her license recently, but she’s smiling and her blue eyes are bright.

                “How long?”

                Isa shrugged. “Forever?” She smiled at Florence again

                “I’m being serious.”

                “So am I.”

                “We can’t drive up the coast forever.”

                “Okay how about you pack up enough clothes for four days we’ll see where that gets us. We drive up for two days and back for two?”

                “Okay.” It’s hard to resist the way her girlfriend smiles, the way she bounces around when she finally comes out to LA and visits her.

                Isa hops out of the truck and locks it and the pair walks back into Isa’s apartment, their hands laced together. The flight there was long and if Florence was being honest, sitting in a truck for four days didn’t sound particularly appealing either but Isa’s hopeful smile and spring to her step was enough to convince her that it was worth it.

                “Okay we need like four shirts and four pants…” Isa’s voice trails off as she runs through the small home and reappears with two backpacks. “Toothbrush, toothpaste, hairbrush, shampoo…” She runs off again and Florence unzips the bags she flew to LA and begins to pick out what seemed to be the most casual of the clothing.

                “I’m not sure why I’m worrying this much, we can just pick up whatever we need from a Walgreens or something.” Isa begins to haphazardly shove shorts and tee shirts into one of the backpacks. “I’m just trying to be spontaneous.”

                “It’s working.” Florence smiles fondly at her girlfriend and leans over and presses a quick kiss to the blonde’s cheek.

                “I’m glad you came.” The blonde beams back at her and Florence can’t help but return the smile.

                Their backpacks are stuffed tight with clothes and miscellaneous toiletries before Isa deems them ready for a road trip. She takes the keys to her home and the truck and locks the house behind them before she climbs into the driver’s seat of the truck parked out front. Florence climbs into the passenger side and watches Isa throw the backpack into the backseat and she follows suit, letting the engine rumble to life.

                The pair pulls out of the driveway and Isa expertly navigates her way towards the shore and the Pacific Coast Highway. The radio is on low and the windows are rolled down and soon Florence can’t help but prop her feet up on the dashboard and stretch her long legs out in the front seat. She catches Isa chuckling a little bit as Isa veers right and they catch their first glance at the Pacific Ocean.

                “This is so much nicer than Britain.” Florence remarks, the blue shining brightly rather than dully with the rain and murk of the isles.

                “It is.” Isa glances out. “It’s a view I could get used to.”

                “You’re a view I could get used to.”

                “Dork.”

                “Don’t you know it.”

                “We need to stop for snacks!” Isa yells suddenly. “Quick, where’s the nearest supermarket?”  
                “Uhhh…”

                “Rhetorical question!”

                They find a Safeway a few miles up the road and load their shopping baskets with candy and chips and quickly run it through a self-serve check out before dashing back to the truck. Florence’s heart is pounding with excitement, it’s been too long since she did anything spontaneous like this. They drive back onto the PCH and continue onwards.

                There’s no more large towns and LA is no longer in sight when the first scenic pull off happens. Without a question Isa pulls over and the two find themselves on a sheer cliff overlooking the ocean as it crashes into the rocks.

                “Wow.”

                There’s no other words to say as they watch the ocean roll underneath them. It’s something that doesn’t require words to convey how truly awesome it is to watch, there are no words to convey that one day the ocean’s power would wash the very cliff they were standing on away.

                “So.” Isa takes Florence’s hand in her own. “How much farther should we go today?”

                “Another hour or so and then we should find a motel.”

                “Sounds like a plan.” Isa leans her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder and smiles.

                They get back into the truck reluctantly, continuing their drive north while Florence tries to throw snacks into Isa’s mouth as she drives, as they watch road signs to indicate lodging. It takes an hour and a half to find a motel with vacancy and the sun has begun to set on them as they pay for the room and let themselves in.

                There’s two beds, but they only need one. They both set the backpacks down and Florence leans down to kiss Isa, letting herself get lost in the feeling she had been deprived of for so many months. It’s easy to do really, natural and she’s reluctant to break the kiss.

                “I should shower.” Her voice is mumbled by Isa’s lips.

                “I could come with you, saves water you know.” Isa grins and Florence rolled her eyes.

                “If it saves water, I _guess_ you should come.”

                “Fantastic.”

 

* * *

 

                They’re curled up in one of the beds watching local cable game shows as Florence idly traces patterns up and down Isa’s arms.

                “Where to tomorrow?” She asks quietly.

                “Wherever the road takes us. I say it takes us to iHop for breakfast.”

                “That’s a road I can get behind.”

                Isa turns out the lights and falls asleep in Florence’s arms.

 

* * *

 

                “We have to go if we want to make headway.” Florence mumbles, trying to lift herself up from the bed only to have Isa push her back against it.

                Neither of them can remember how they ended up making out instead of checking out and she wouldn’t be complaining if they didn’t have to go. She wants more than she currently has time for.

                “I didn’t hear you arguing a couple minutes ago.” Isa drags her hand across the plane of Florence’s stomach.

                “I’m not arguing, this was your idea.”

                Isa presses a quick kiss to Florence’s lips and then rolls off her girlfriend. “Come on let’s go then.”

                They’re back on the road and looking for an iHop in no time and they find one in about ten minutes. They try to eat quickly as to get back on the road quickly, but they both find themselves easily distracted on the drive back to the PCH and they waste time buying more snacks from a local corner store.

                “So I think I have a destination in mind.” Isa said as they continued North.

                “Do you?”

                “Yup. It’ll be a close call, though.”

                “Let’s do it.”

                They pass homes and high rises, seagulls and seals, and more overlooks where the water met the cliffs in all its power. As Florence watches Isa drive she vaguely wishes she could drive too and take the load off of her girlfriend, but she knows that this is ultimately a bad idea.

                “I think we’re almost there.” Isa mumbles.

                “The sun’s getting low.”

                “I know.”

                Isa begins to speed up the road, well over the speed limit and then without warning bears left onto an empty beach. She slowly brings the truck into reverse so the bed of the truck faces the ocean and then hops out.

                “What are you doing?” Florence follows her out and Isa hauls herself into the bed and lays out a beach towel.

                “Come up here.”

                Florence climbs up the tire and sits down next to Isa in the bed of the truck. She wraps her arm around her girlfriend and Isa looks up at her, grinning.

                “I think I timed it perfectly.”  
                “What?”

                “Look.”

                The sun slowly begins to set on the Pacific Ocean and it’s breath taking. The sky erupts into pinks and oranges and reds as the sun spreads across the ocean horizon. Florence sharply inhales and she hears Isa laugh gently.

                “Worth it?” Isa asks once the whole spectacle is done.

                “Is that why you wanted to drive up here?”

                “Yes.”

                They both lock eyes. “That was beautiful, thank you.”

                “It’s no problem.”

                “I love you.”

                “I love you too.”

 


End file.
